Terrence Ross Puts UW on His Back in Husky Win 75-65

The Huskies took on the Cougars at home and this game became the tale of two halves. It was night and day from the first half to the second half.

UW had 25 points in the first half as it was full of missed opportunities, missed free throws, missed jumpers, and plenty of turnovers. The Huskies just couldn’t find a way to get inside the zone that the Cougars were playing. They got into a 3 point shooting contest with WSU and they were losing that contest, as DaVonte Lacy and Brock Motum were nailing them from outside.

This just looked like another game in which the Husky fan base left frustrated and confused by a team with so much talent but little success. However, Lorenzo Romar and Terrence Ross had a different strategy for the second half.

The Huskies came out of the half looking not much better at first and when Terrence Ross was called for a charge on a whistle that probably could have gone either way; Romar was elated and grabbed his coat and made the gesture as if rip it off of his body. The refs did not like that display of emotion and a technical foul was called. This looked to be all bad for the Dawgs, and the crowd agreed. All their frustration and passion came out together on the refs.

This fired up the Husky team, specifically Ross. He went

nuts on the Cougars, found multiple 3s, aggressive rebounds, and he helped the Dawgs claw back into this game, that WSU up to this point had controlled. Then it was game on, and Ross’ “killer instinct” came out and he took over this game.

He scored a career high 30 points, had a career high of 14 rebounds, and he also 2 steals and 2 assists. He could not be stopped, and the cap to his night was when he threw down a monster alley-oop from Abdul Gaddy with a Cougar player hanging on his back. He hit the free-throw to complete the 3 point play.

There are 4 main reasons this team rallied back and doubled their 25 point performance from the first half, in the second.

• Romar’s technical foul was not meant to fire up the team and the crowd but it did.
• The DawgPack was the loudest they have been all season and they provided a huge boost in momentum.
• Darnell Gant helped step up and lead this team, he provided at least 2 momentum boosting plays.
• Terrence Ross was simply unbelievable. If he can keep that killer instinct that he had, this season could go significantly better for the Dawgs.

The fan base should be encouraged by what they saw in the second half, however, should be nervous that it was just another inconsistency that this team has showed all year. Can the Huskies come out and play this way next game at home against Cal? Or will they fall back into that team that struggles to find rhythm, chemistry, and leadership? This remains to be seen.

Other Notes: 

• CJ Wilcox was unable to play in this game due to a hip injury.
• Hikeem Stewart saw some significant minutes but no production.
• Both Martin Breunig and Shawn Kemp Jr. played but also didn’t contribute in the stat columns (Breunig did have one foul).
• The free-throw shooting started abysmal but ended with a fantastic improvement. The Huskies ended the day with over 60% from the line.
• Aziz N’Diaye, Gant, and Tony Wroten all saw double-figures in points.
• The Husky defense looked impressive in the second half. They were closing down on the Cougars and didn’t allow much room for 3 point shots.

—